hold on to this lullaby
by Lorata
Summary: Hunger Games Holiday Exchange. Prompt: "the games continue and Katniss has to mentor someone." AU: The year of the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss watches as her sister is called in the Reaping, and she can't step in to save her this time. A sequence of 10 drabbles. COMPLETE.


"Tell me, Miss Everdeen, what would you do to save your sister?"

The President sits in front of the window, a dark silhouette against the pale winter sky. The scent of blood chokes her nostrils.

Katniss clenches her fists. "Anything."

"Incorrect, Miss Everdeen. You will do nothing." His eyes pierce her skull. "No more volunteering, no more poison berries. You are done changing fate. Do you understand? You do your job, nothing more."

"I will." But Prim is safe, in the Village. It's a threat, but not a promise. Katniss struggles to breathe.

He smiles. "I hope so, my dear."

* * *

><p><em>You will do nothing.<em>

The words roll in her head like unending thunder, a splinter in her skin. She stands on stage, looks at the families of the children who died for her to live. Nausea churns in her gut. She smiles, smiles, smiles.

But it's too late; unease sweeps the districts, and she can't keep it back. The people cry for revolution and Katniss' frozen silence won't dissuade them.

The President clucks his tongue at her during the tour finale. "I'm disappointed." He crunches a cube of ice in his teeth, licks away bloody spume. "I thought you understood."

* * *

><p>"It's the card." Her mother's voice is faraway but not drowning. Katniss keeps a sharp eye on her just in case. "The rules of the Quarter Quell."<p>

The President lifts the card with a flourish. "As a reminder that wealth and privilege do not excuse duty to the Capitol, this year's tributes will be selected from those who have not taken tesserae, effective this morning."

Prim breathes slowly as realization dawns. "It's okay. Teach me to make snares. If it's me, you'll mentor me. It'll be okay."

_You will do nothing_.

Katniss forces a smile. "Yes it will. I promise."

* * *

><p>Gale's gaze burns through her like fire. "We should go. Get her out of here."<p>

_You will do nothing_

"We can't! That's what he wants. He wants me to run, to try to save her." Katniss digs her fingers into her scalp. "He said - if I do nothing she'll be safe."

"Katniss, don't you get it? There is no safe, not while he's in power. We have to do something."

"No!" She shoves him; he stumbles back. "No, I won't risk Prim. Not for Panem, not for anyone."

Gale breathes hard, then nods. "Fine. Then we'll do it without you."

* * *

><p>Reaping Day. Katniss stands on stage; the bowls drag her gaze like magnets, sucking her in. Her shirt sticks to her back.<p>

Effie stands unbowed, buoyed by enthusiasm. "Ladies first!"

Katniss rakes the crowd but Prim is too short, even with the square mostly filled with merchant kids. Peeta reaches for her hand; she squeezes back, hard.

"Oh," Effie trembles. "Well, isn't this - exciting. The female tribute is - Primrose Everdeen!"

_You will do nothing._

The crowd parts. Madge Undersee steps forward - Katniss' heart surges - but Prim shakes her head and climbs the stage, her shirttails neatly tucked.

No one applauds.

* * *

><p>Katniss breaks protocol, stands in the Justice Building with Prim as Peeta and Haymitch handle the other arrangements. Madge bursts in, the door banging hard against the hinge. "I would have volunteered for you!" Madge cries. "Why did you say no?"<p>

_You will do nothing._

Prim is thirteen and a hundred all at once, so young, so wise. "It would only be me next year, or the next, or the next. I don't want people to keep dying for me until I'm safe. He'd only find another way." Madge's eyes fill with tears. "Thanks for trying." Prim kisses her cheek.

* * *

><p>Cinna dresses Prim in blue to match her eyes, fabric flickering when she moves like fairy lights. The President's words settle around them like a heavy blanket - <em>you will do nothing<em> - and there is no fire for Primrose, nothing to stir the flames, but the connection is there. A reminder, like the pin on Prim's shoulder.

"So tell me," Caesar says. "What's your strategy for the Games?"

"My sister was brave when she volunteered for me." Prim folds her hands. "I just want to be brave like her."

Haymitch points to the screen. "Katniss!"

The audience is weeping, for Prim.

* * *

><p>The Arena is a desert; no herbs to gather, no animals to hunt. The sun beats down on the Cornucopia as the seconds tick down. Prim's blonde curls stick to her neck.<p>

Twelve's boy dies first, cut down by the big girl from District 2. Peeta drops his headset; Katniss can't even pretend to be sorry.

Prim darts in for a pack, nearly crashes into the boy from District 1. "Run, little girl. Your time comes later." He winks and lets her go; his mentor is grimly silent.

"She's dead," someone says.

_You will do nothing._

Katniss hisses. "Not yet."

* * *

><p>The boy from One catches her against a cliff. He twirls his knife; Prim flinches but doesn't run. Her collarbones jut out; his eyes shine with dehydration. "I'm supposed to make you beg."<p>

Prim's breath hitches. "For life, or for death?"

"Beg for the first," he sings, "and maybe I'll make the second quick."

Katniss keens. Peeta's arms slide around her. Prim straightens. "No. I'm not begging."

"You sure?"

_You will do nothing._

Gloss curses. "Screw this, they both deserve better."

The boy catches the sword Gloss sends and skims the message. "Never mind, quick it is."

Prim dies, unbowed.

* * *

><p>The first flowers are from Peeta, pale yellow blossoms floating from the hovercraft. Peeta's cheeks are wet. "I had to do something."<p>

Next come pink and white cosmos from District Eleven, Seeder silent at her desk. Then sunflowers from Ten, violets from Nine, all the way down to Lyme, from Two, who clenches her jaw and sends a shower of dogwood. Katniss remembers how to breathe.

The President's image appears, furious, on the console. "Miss Everdeen! Make this stop!"

Katniss lifts her head, eyes dry. On screens all around her, citizens are rioting; the footage dies. "I will do nothing."


End file.
